Familiar Face II: Mysteria
by Ashni
Summary: Who was that woman who came to Syd's rescue in Pennsylvania, anyway? Syd investigates and finds out an awful truth...
1. Stolen Memories

Title: MYSTERIA (Familiar Face, book two)  
Author: Nicole  
Author's Note: This is the sequel to my first fanfic, "Mosemotsane," and the second in my series "Familiar Face."  
Feedback / E-Mail: nicole@lafetra.com  
Disclaimer: I don't own "Alias" or any of the characters in it, which, although it makes me sad, is a good thing because I would completely screw it up.  
Classification / Genre: General/Mystery  
Summary: A double identity. An uncertain past. How far is Sydney willing to go to uncover a mystery?  
Rating: PG  
  
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MYSTERIA: Part 1  
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"That's crazy. You're saying that K-Directorate started chasing after a woman who looked exactly like you." Vaughn frowned, leaning back against a stack of crates.  
  
Sydney could tell he was skeptical, and frankly, she couldn't blame him. When she'd run into her doppelganger in a Pennsylvania forest, she hadn't been able to believe her eyes. The other woman's hair, eyes, build, *voice* had matched her own almost perfectly. "She looked a little younger than me, but that's it. If I'd seen a picture of her and someone told me it was me . . ." She shrugged. "I would've believed them, no question."  
  
"We have no reports of your father having another child," Vaughn added. He looked through a file he held.  
  
"And I don't remember ever having a little sister. I would've been only a year or two old, though," Sydney admitted grudgingly. "But I swear, she looked exactly like me!"  
  
"I believe you," Vaughn replied with a quick look up. He sighed. "If you want me to, I'll look into it. I have to warn you, it means telling Devlin about this mysterious woman."  
  
"That shouldn't be much of a problem."  
  
Vaughn flipped back through his file, looking restless. "It could be more of a problem than you know. Having two of you running around-" He smiled briefly and shook his head. "It could pose more risks than I could possibly list. We'd likely have to pull you out of service as a double agent and put you under that protection program you said you could never live under."  
  
"Dammit."  
  
"I know. Do you still want me to investigate?"  
  
Sydney bit her lip, debating. Finally, she said, "I don't think I could live with this mystery hanging over my head. If it means retiring from SD-6, I guess that's the price I pay." Her miserable tone belied the light words.  
  
"Give me a week. I'll do all I can." Vaughn watched her, taking in her haggard features and stiff movements. "You should get some rest. You gave the pictures to Sloane?"  
  
Sydney nodded. "And told him K-Directorate had destroyed the journal almost immediately after I took the pictures. He seemed convinced."  
  
"Good. I'll see you later."  
  
* * * *  
  
Sydney lay back against her pillows, rummaging through some photographs of her as a child. She smiled at a picture of her dancing with her father, but the smile quickly faded. "If I'd seen a picture of her and someone told me it was me, I would've believed them, no question." The words echoed through her head, unbidden, haunting in their truth. When she'd first seen the other woman, she'd experienced a disorienting loss of identity. Now, it came back in force. All these pictures, all these memories-were they even her own? Had her mother even loved her, or had she loved another little girl with brown eyes and bouncing pigtails?  
  
Part of her protested that she was being foolish, that of course her mother had loved her. But she couldn't be sure anymore. Martin Shepard had once told her that he felt he'd been stolen from himself. No words could better describe the ache in her heart. She couldn't even blame SD?6 this time.  
  
Sydney felt tears rise in her eyes and quickly brushed them away with a trembling hand. She carefully placed the photographs back in her memory box and buried her face in her pillow. Why couldn't things go back to the way they were? Before SD-6 had recruited her, before she'd told Danny her secret and he'd been murdered, before she'd become a double agent, before everything she'd known and loved and trusted had fallen apart in her fingertips.  
  
What was truth and what was reality anymore? Maybe everything in our lives is a lie, she thought bitterly, and we're so desperate to believe in something that we call it truth and live by it.  
  
No, she couldn't accept that. Her love for Danny, that had been truth. That *was* truth. Sydney touched the engagement ring she still wore, clinging to it like a child clings to a loved teddy bear as the world around them collapses. She'd come through more difficult trials before. She would find out who this woman was, figure out how to deal with it, and continue on with her life. She owed it to everyone around her. She owed it to herself.  
  
* * * *  
  
Journal,  
  
So, I did it. I saved her. Father looked so worried when he sent me out after her-I don't think it's crazy to think some of that worry was for me. I shouldn't even be writing here, not about this, so I won't go into detail about my mission. But suffice it to say that my training paid off beautifully! I had to pass the ultimate test, to save both our lives, and I stepped up to the challenge and I *succeeded.*  
  
The shock on her face made me immensely proud, and yet supremely sad at the same time. Proud, because I made myself so like her that even she was shocked; sad, because now I know she was never told about me. Where I grew up constantly hearing about Sydney and constantly trying to live up to her impossible goodness, she grew up free from any such burden.  
  
I suppose I am jealous. Can anyone truly blame me? My very name means "born during the father's time of hardship," which I was, as I have been told throughout my life. He'd lost the love of his life, and his daughter.  
  
Not me. Her. He never even mentioned me.  
  
Yours,  
Kesi 


	2. Value of Her Own

Author's Note: LOL, yeah, now the title of Mosemotsane is starting to make sense. :-) I probably should have named the series that, not the story, but oh well . . . just a few notes on the three planned stories for anyone confused:  
  
MOSEMOTSANE (second child in identical twins) focused on Sydney's capture by K-Directorate and introduced Syd's doppelganger.  
MYSTERIA (mystery) is explaining who this doppelganger is and her relationship to Syd.  
AGRACIANA (forgiveness) will go into how Syd must deal with the doppelganger.  
  
On this note, I need to change what I labeled as the genre of this piece. Mosemotsane was mostly action, but I think Mysteria will end up more a blend of general and a little mystery. I'm planning for Agraciana to go back to action, if anyone's interested. Okay, onto today's segment of the story. :-) -Ashni  
  
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MYSTERIA: Part 2  
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"Devlin wants you to halt work at SD-6 until we find out more about this woman," Vaughn said, jamming his hands in his pockets.  
  
"That could take forever!" Sydney cried. "And what am I supposed to do in the meantime? When they see me walking around, Sloane'll wonder what I'm up to." She shook her head. "It won't work. She's in *Pennsylvania,* for crying out loud! I have to go back to SD-6."  
  
"No, you can't." Vaughn risked a glance at her. She was pacing the length of the floor, cheeks red with frustration. "You knew this was a possibility when you asked me to investigate," he continued wearily. "Look, if we don't see her in a couple of weeks Devlin will probably let you go back. It's just right now, we can't take the risk. Take a vacation. You of all people deserve it."  
  
Sydney flashed a strange look at him that he couldn't interpret. She sat down on a box, tapping her fingers together impatiently. "Fine," she said at last. "I'll spend two weeks in Tahoe, but that's it. I'm not kidding."  
  
"Two weeks," Vaughn repeated. "I'll tell Devlin."  
  
* * *  
  
Kesi chose a table by a window and settled back, enjoying the view of the people hurrying past, rushing about their busy lives. She'd never been to Los Angeles before, and the city fascinated her. The pace was so different from what she was used to. It was faster, more reckless, more competitive. She found it exhilarating.  
  
"Are you ready to order?"  
  
She smiled up at the waiter and shook her head. "I'm waiting for my dad," she explained. "But a glass of water would be nice."  
  
Kesi shivered in happiness. She hadn't had lunch with her father in years. Necessity had always dictated that she remain far away from Sydney to avoid confusion, and in the three months since her father had recruited her to his company, that need had only grown. Although this meant she saw her father less and less, she hadn't minded. It had been the first sign that she held value Sydney could never match.  
  
- Flashback -  
  
"Sydney was chosen because she matched a profile. You have been chosen because you match Sydney. If you agree, your training will focus on one thing-being able to impersonate her. I've watched you carefully as you've grown up, and I think you will succeed remarkably. I won't lie to you. It's hard work, and the strain of dealing with two lives is enormous. On top of that, you will have to fool some of Sydney's closest friends."  
  
"I can do it," Kesi said proudly.  
  
Her father smiled warmly at her. "I know you can. Very few people could, but--" he reached out to pat her on the shoulder, "--you're one of them."  
  
Kesi could never describe the sheer joy she felt as she learned to imitate Sydney. Others might have felt resentful, put in her position; after all, her life now revolved mainly around Sydney. Kesi, however, knew that the ability to change into another person at will gave her more freedom than she had ever experienced before.  
  
- End Flashback -  
  
The ring of her cell phone jerked Kesi back from her memories. She glanced at her watch. 2:04. It was probably her dad, then . . .  
  
"Hello?" she asked cautiously.  
  
"Hi, Kesi. I'm sorry, but I can't make it for lunch. Sydney called to tell me she's going on a vacation and--"  
  
"It's okay. I understand."  
  
There was a pause on the other end of the line. Then her father said, "Good. I'll see you later." A soft click and he was gone.  
  
Kesi stood up, tucking her cell phone back into her purse. Her vision seemed blurry, but she resolutely refused to admit that it was because of tears. *So what if my only worth seems to be that I can imitate Sydney? I saved her life, that's all that matters, right? I succeeded in something she couldn't do.* She felt oddly betrayed. Of course her dad had to attend to Sydney; Kesi didn't even officially exist. Not here.  
  
She kept her anger and hurt at bay as she hurried to her hotel room, where she was staying under the name "Lydia Stone." She wouldn't let her control waver. Her discipline had always been her main point of pride-she wouldn't lose it to Sydney.  
  
Upon reaching her room, she locked the door and leaned against it with a trembling sigh, letting her purse drop to the ground. For a moment, Kesi just let herself sink into blissful numbness. She couldn't back her feelings for long, though, and when they returned she threw herself into the only other escape she knew: her journal. Her white fingers gripped the pen as it etched her pain into the white pages, nearly illegible. But she didn't write for a record in years to come. She wrote to free herself of her pain.  
  
Some time later, Kesi lay back on her bed, feeling drained. She'd written until she felt she could write no more; bled until she could bleed no more; hated and mourned and lost until every and no emotion swept through her. The pen fell to the floor, abandoned, but she clutched her journal to her chest and curled up on the bed.  
  
She had to win her father back. She had to show him she could be valuable. And if Sydney suffered because of it, so be it. Kesi had suffered long enough because of Sydney. 


	3. Seeking Answers

Author's Note: Sorry it took me so long to get this up. Finals are quickly approaching, so I've been pretty busy--I'm sure most of you can relate. :-) - Ashni  
  
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MYSTERIA: Part 3  
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Sydney locked her car and walked up to the front door, carefully avoiding the ice that crusted the walkway. True to her word, she'd rented a cabin in Tahoe for the next two weeks and she was determined not to worry about SD-6. When she got inside, she dropped her bags next to the door and looked around, nodding to herself. Her one concern had been that the cabin might be too roomy, but that was quickly assuaged-everything appeared to be well-suited to a single occupant.  
  
Now she just had to unpack her stuff. With a purposeful look on her face and a mischievous gleam to her eye, she set to work.  
  
Some time later, Sydney stretched out on the couch contentedly, a steaming mug of hot chocolate in her hand. She leaned back and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of the heat against her palm and the familiar aroma of chocolate. Childhood memories drifted through her mind, free of the bitter sting they usually held.  
  
- Flashback -  
  
"It's getting dark. We should probably go inside," her father said, stepping out from behind the snow fort he'd built with her. Sydney immediately took the chance to pelt him with a snowball, her pigtails bouncing as she darted away. Her giggles echoed through the trees.  
  
Jack looked mournfully down at his shirt and brushed away the clinging slush halfheartedly. Still laughing, Sydney ran into the house, and he followed after a moment.  
  
Her mother greeted them with cups of hot chocolate. Curls of steam melted into the air and made Sydney's eyes water as she gulped it greedily. After stripping off her soaked snow gear, she curled up in a chair, her mother and father sitting together on the couch next to her and a cheery fire warming all of them.  
  
"So, did you both have fun out there?" Laura said at length. She tucked her head against her husband's shoulder, watching the fire crackle.  
  
Sydney only nodded, and Jack replied, "Sure did. Little Syd's got way too much energy, though. I dare say I'm beat. The kid's like the Energizer bunny." He shook his head quizzically, prompting a laugh from his wife and daughter and a smile from himself. Sydney'd never dreamed then that his smiles would become so rare.  
  
"Could anything make this more perfect?" her mother asked drowsily.  
  
Sydney wasted no time in answering, even laying aside her hot chocolate to do it. "If I had a sister," she stated matter-of-factly. "Then we could gang up on Dad. Please, please can't I have a sister?"  
  
"Maybe someday."  
  
The younger Sydney settled back into her chair, satisfied by this answer, but the fire roared up suddenly, filled with images. Even as the family continued to smile and talk, the flames ran rampant with clocks and gears, binary code and golden suns and journals and sketches. Sydney stared into a mirror, and her image stared back, then suddenly broke free from its confines to seize her wrist.  
  
"Soon," it hissed, and her world fell down around her. . .  
  
- End Flashback -  
  
Her cell phone rang just as the memory shattered against the razor-sharp edge of her sorrow. Shaken, she placed the mug down on a side table and set the phone to her ear.  
  
"Okay, why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Sydney smiled to hear the familiar indignant voice. "What do you mean, Francie?"  
  
"You said you were in Tahoe!"  
  
"I am," Sydney replied, puzzled. "Why?"  
  
"I just saw you sitting at a table in Tracy's Diner an hour ago."  
  
Sydney bolted upright on the couch. Her elbow connected with the table, sending pain shooting up her arm and causing the mug of hot chocolate to rock precariously. She reached out a trembling hand to steady it, using the motion as a focus to calm down. "Tracy's Diner?" she asked, her voice level and cool.  
  
Francie sounded put out. "Yeah. So I know you can't possibly be in Tahoe by now. What's up, Sydney? I thought you trusted me."  
  
"I-I do trust you, Francie, you know that. I'm actually in the car right now, headed to my cabin. Traffic's hell over here, by the way," she added lightly, hoping to soothe Francie's hurt feelings. "I was planning to leave this morning, but Dad called me up and I didn't want to miss the chance to have lunch with him. I didn't think it was too important; otherwise, I would have called you. I swear."  
  
There was silence on the other end as Sydney waited, breath held. "Oh," Francie finally said. "Okay, then. It's just, with you sneaking off all over the place, not calling me, I thought maybe there was something going on."  
  
"There's nothing going on," Sydney put in quickly.  
  
"But if there is something going on you will tell me?"  
  
Sydney forced the lie from her lips. "If there is ever something going on, I will tell you."  
  
"Hey, you looked pretty disappointed-don't tell me he stood you up again."  
  
"He did." Using her shoulder to keep the phone against her ear, Sydney looked around the room. She got up and grabbed a pen and notepad from the counter.  
  
Anger and sympathy warred in Francie's voice. "I'm so sorry, Syd."  
  
"It's okay. I mean, I should be used to it by now." She held the cap in her mouth and scribbled quickly, Tracy's Diner, seen 2:00 by Francie. "Look, thanks for calling. I appreciate you checking up on me. There are crazy drivers all around me, though, so I'll talk to you later. Bye!" She dropped the phone back in her purse and collapsed back on the couch. The hot chocolate slowly turned cold, forgotten.  
  
There was one more thing she knew she had to do. Her face stony, she took out her CIA-issue cell phone and dialed Vaughn's number. 


	4. Behind Closed Doors

Author's Note: Finally, a little action. :-) And I've redone the chapters so that the parts finally correspond to the chapters. lol! -Ashni  
  
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MYSTERIA: Part 4  
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Sydney crept through the dark offices, staying as low to the ground as she could manage. A security guard's flashlight swept by her. She pressed against the wall and forced herself to stay still. When the guard had gone, she darted around the corner, halting at the glass doors. With a quick glance around the room to make sure no one was in sight, she slipped through into the corridor where Sloane's office was.  
  
She lost precious minutes fumbling with the lock. Even as she crept into the office and closed the door behind her, footsteps warned her that another guard approached. There was no time to take cover. Sydney huddled behind the door, hoping against hope that he wouldn't notice that the door wasn't completely closed. The footsteps passed by without faltering. Taking a deep breathe, she rose slowly and went to Sloane's desk.  
  
Earlier that day, as she raced home from Tahoe after a rushed conversation with Vaughn, her dad had deactivated the motion sensors and other security measures around the office. Or so he said. No matter how hard she tried, Sydney couldn't quite bring herself to trust her dad. He'd lied to her so many times before, and knew she only saw in him what he allowed her to see. But Vaughn had assured her that the office was, in fact, safe for her to enter. And she trusted Vaughn.  
  
Not that he had been happy about her going. When she'd called to tell him that Francie had seen her doppelganger at a café only a few blocks from her house, he'd grimly replied with the information he'd just received: that the look-alike had been sent by SD-6.  
  
"Then surely she reported back that a helicopter airlifted me out of the forest," she exclaimed. "And maybe she thought it was sent by SD-6, but-"  
  
"But Sloane would know." Vaughn's flat tone confirmed her realization…and her bafflement. "And he let you go free."  
  
"I have to find out what's going on."  
  
She could picture his face at that moment, the way his brow would furrow and his eyes darken. She'd seen it every time he sent her off on a mission, not knowing if she'd return. "No, Syd, you can't! It's too dangerous!"  
  
"Don't ask me to wait patiently hundreds of miles away while I have *this* hanging over my head!"  
  
"Sydney-"  
  
"Vaughn, *please.* I can't-" She broke off and closed her eyes, fighting for control. When she continued, her voice was level. "I can't live without knowing. Please help me in this." Hearing her pitiful, pleading tone, she stopped. The seconds crawled by and it seemed to be years before Vaughn finally sighed and responded.  
  
"Fine," he said wearily, sounding defeated. Then, louder: "Fine. Start back now. I'll contact your father and have him disable the surveillance in Sloane's office. I assume that's where you want to investigate?"  
  
A thrill of anticipation ran through her and she could barely mask the excitement she felt. "Yes. I'll start heading back to L.A. now."  
  
"There will be a CIA team waiting in Reynor Park."  
  
"Thank you, Vaughn."  
  
He hesitated a moment before answering. "Be careful."  
  
Now, surrounded by glass walls and watching the distant illumination of flashlights on the empty rows of desks, Sydney wondered if she hadn't been too hasty. She'd barely been in Los Angeles for ten minutes before the team had whisked her off to Credit Dauphine.  
  
No time for regrets now. She pulled a key from a pocket in her vest and opened the top drawer of Sloane's desk. She rifled through the files quickly, repressing her natural curiosity to look at the folders that had nothing to do with the particular assignment she was looking for.   
  
Finally she came across one labeled "Olim Idlabmar." She drew it out of its place carefully and crouched down behind the desk before opening it. A slip of paper was clipped to the first page. She squinted at it in the dim light, turning the folder slightly. It read: "K.S. - first mission - success."  
  
Sydney's eyes widened. K.S.-that must be the woman who had come to her rescue in Pennsylvania! She closed the folder and lay it on the ground before returning to the open drawer. A quick search revealed a file in the far back, labeled "K.S." She took it out and returned to her seat behind the desk.  
  
Her hands trembled. When she had spoken with him last, right before coming here, Vaughn had asked her if she was sure she wanted to uncover this mystery. "Sometimes, there are things better left unknown," he had cautioned her. She had been set on coming, though, so he had wished her luck and stood at the sidewalk as she disappeared down the street.  
  
*There are things better left unknown.* Was he right? She hesitated, and it was in that hesitation that she heard it. A whisper of sound, easily dismissed if her nerves hadn't been so jumpy. But they were, and she froze, holding her breath.  
  
A slight change of shadow upon shadow told her that a figure crouched at the door. A faint footstep told her that he-or she-had entered the room. Sydney guessed that she hadn't been seen: she heard no cry of shock, no anxious retreat into the hallway. She set the folders down silently beside her. She turned, balancing on the balls of her feet, and peered around the edge of the desk.  
  
"You!" she gasped, then cursed herself for the outburst. The figure spun around to look at her. She found herself face-to-face with a gun, looking at her own face, her own eyes.  
  
Her doppelganger took a step back, letting her gun fall to her side. She snarled softly. "Sydney," she breathed. Suddenly her eyes took on a wild, raging glint. "You're working against him!" She raised the gun again.  
  
Sydney cried out and stumbled behind the desk as a shot rang out. The glass behind her shattered. A waterfall of shards cascaded down on her. She heard the guards shout out and they came running. Desperate, she grabbed the files and threw herself through the jagged opening in the glass, shielding her face with her arms. The hot sting of blood bit her cheek.  
  
When she finally staggered outside, the CIA team pulled her into the car. The tires screeched as they shot down the street. Sydney clutched the files to her chest. Her face was cut and bruised, and tears rose in her eyes that had nothing to do with the pain.  
  
* * *  
  
Journal,  
  
I don't even know what to write, I'm so torn up with anger and hate and betrayal right now. Betrayal, yes, *betrayal* from she who didn't even know that I existed until I saved her sneaking, conniving ass in Pennsylvania. I tried to kill her, did you know that? My shot went wide and she got away, but it makes me all the more determined to bring her down.  
  
All I've ever done, I've done to live up to her kindness, her strength, her *loyalty,* and now I find she's working against us after all! Why else would she be sneaking around in his office, looking through files she has no business looking through? Not to find out about me, I assure you. She's grown up free of the burden of my existence, although I get no such courtesy.  
  
I'll show Father who is truly worthy of his love. I went in to find out about her, and find out about her I did. I found out her traitorous, deceitful mind. I *will* bring her down. I will bring her down, and only when she is dead will I reveal to Father the truth about her. Then he'll know that I should be the one he trusts, the one he turns to, the one he boasts about. I won't let him assign this to anyone else. I will show him her dead body, and only then will he realize the danger he so narrowly escaped.  
  
I will give him her head and he will give me my right.  
  
Kesi 


	5. Tangled Deceit

Author's Note: Last part of "Mysteria"! -Ashni  
  
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MYSTERIA: Part 5  
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Part 5: Tangled Deceit  
  
Sydney followed the CIA team through a maze of underground passages. She had not let go of the SD-6 files since her narrow escape from Sloane's office and she was almost sure that the folder tab would leave a permanent mark on her palm. Conflicting emotions pounded through her. Joy at her success; shock at the appearance of K.S.; relief at her escape; hurt at the way her doppelganger had tried to kill her.  
  
Sloane must have told her that the helicopter in Pennsylvania hadn't been sent by SD-6. Sydney's brow furrowed. If K.S. was working with Sloane, why had she snuck into the office? Obviously the other woman had information she wanted to gain; information that Sloane would not reveal to her.  
  
There were too many unsolved mysteries. The shout of "You're working against him!" when K.S. was doing the same thing; the way the woman had found Sloane's office and yet not taken any precautions with the security that normally protected it. She would have been caught by at least a half-dozen alarms, if Jack hadn't disabled them earlier...  
  
Unless he was working with K.S. In which case, he was on the side of SD-6, after all.  
  
Even as her eyes widened, Sydney shook her head. That couldn't be right, either. Her dad could have revealed her to Sloane months ago, when she first became a double agent. And he'd saved her life so many times before. What was going on?  
  
A new light sent spots dancing across Sydney's vision. She raised her head slowly as the men ahead of her emerged into a corridor of the CIA building. Soon they'd reach the conference room, where Vaughn would be waiting--  
  
She couldn't suppress the leap in her spirits as she thought of Vaughn. He'd help her figure this out. Anything seemed possible when she was with him.  
  
Which was crazy, she knew. A weary smile tugged at her lips. He was just as human as she was, and just as fallible. He couldn't solve all her problems with a snap of his fingers--although sometimes it felt like he could--and it was crazy of her to rely on him this way. But she did rely on him, as she'd never relied on anyone since her mom's death.  
  
Her face turned grim at this, but one of the CIA agents with her was holding open the door to the conference room and she had to go in. Sydney forced herself to murmur "Thank you," to him, then took a deep breath and entered.  
  
She couldn't help but see the relief on Vaughn's face that quickly turned to concern. He half-stood, stopping at a look from her. *I'm okay,* she mouthed with a quick smile. She took a seat next to him, tapping her fingers impatiently on the folder.  
  
"Syd--your face--"  
  
"I've been through worse," she said, cutting him off. "What are we waiting for?"  
  
Vaughn didn't look convinced, but he dropped the topic and answered her question. "Weiss. He's been helping me investigate your look-alike-he was actually the one who found out that she was sent by SD-6-so I figured he should see the files, too. There he is," he added, looking at the door.  
  
Sydney turned in her seat and grinned. "Hello, Eric."  
  
"It's good to see you. What happened to your face?" He sat down, adjusting his jacket.  
  
"I ran through a glass wall. It's fine, really."  
  
"Syd, maybe you should tell us what happened," Vaughn said. The worried look was returning to his eyes.  
  
She thought for a moment and finally nodded. "*She* showed up. In Sloane's office. I don't know why she was there, but she must've wanted information that Sloane wouldn't give her, because she was trying to stay hidden. I'm not sure what to think. She pulled a gun on me." Sydney heard Vaughn's swift intake of breath and continued before he could say anything.   
  
"The shot hit the glass and the guards started shouting. I ran before they could see me." She smiled crookedly. "I couldn't exactly reach the door."  
  
Weiss whistled softly. "I'm surprised you're not more banged up than you already are."  
  
Sydney shrugged. "Look, I'm dying to know what's in these files. I have the one for the Pennsylvania assignment and the one for that woman. To be honest, I want to look through hers first."  
  
"Weiss is here, so go ahead." Both men leaned forward as she pulled out the folder and opened it, hands trembling. Vaughn watched the file intently, fingers drumming on the table impatiently. Weiss kept looking up nervously, one foot tapping the floor.  
  
"Here, look for anything interesting." Sydney gave a third of the papers inside to Weiss and another third to Vaughn. The last pages she took for herself.  
  
For a few minutes nothing could be heard but the rustling of pages as each person scanned their section. An envelope fell out of the papers in Sydney's hands. She put her stack aside and held up the envelope. After examining it closely, she opened it. She had to squint to read the letter inside. //Jack--//  
  
"Hey, you might want to look at this." Sydney looked up as Weiss passed her a stack of photos. They were all of Sloane and a little girl who looked like Sydney. She turned one over; there was writing on the back.  
  
"Dear Kesi. I'm sorry I had to leave so quickly-work, as usual. Love you as always," she read aloud. "It's not signed, but I recognize Sloane's handwriting." She gave the picture to Vaughn and took the letter up again.  
  
//Great work in Cairo. Hassan delivered the arms Tuesday morning. Find out what you can about Williams. I want a report by next week.// Similar news about work continued for the next page and Sydney skipped over it. A name caught her eye. //Laura gave birth yesterday, you'll be happy to hear. Just as the doctor said, they were twin girls.//  
  
"Sydney?" Vaughn's soft voice brought her back to the conference room. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah," she replied breathlessly. "Just reading through a letter from Sloane to my dad."  
  
He nodded and looked down at his papers again, and Sydney took a deep breath before continuing reading the letter.  
  
//As agreed, Laura will live with you and together you will raise Sydney. Kesi stays with me. I'm expecting to be invited to the wedding. Remember, Jack. At eighteen, Sydney once again becomes mine.  
Sincerely,  
Arvin//  
  
The letter dropped to the table as Sydney cried out and put a hand to her mouth. Silent sobs shook her body. At her cry, Vaughn had immediately turned to her and now had his arm around her shoulders, rocking her gently, but Weiss had taken up the letter. As he finished reading, he set the letter down again and watched her with eyes full of pity. Sydney couldn't stand it.  
  
She lunged out of her seat, ignoring Vaughn's startled look, and headed for the door. It opened before she reached it, and she found herself staring into the dark eyes of her father.  
  
"I see you found Kesi's file." His voice strived to be casual, but it failed.  
  
"You lied to me. Again." Sydney could hardly speak through the agony of anger and sorrow that coursed through her.  
  
"Sydney--"  
  
"I hate you." She pushed past him and began to run down the hallway.  
  
"Sydney, I am still your father!" he called out hoarsely.  
  
Sydney stopped and turned to look at him, eyes bleak. "I have no father," she said. Jack made no move to follow her as she slowly walked away.  
  
**************  
  
P.S. Watch for "Agraciana," the last story in this series, soon! -Ashni 


	6. Agraciana: Sneak Preview!

Sneak preview from "Agraciana"...  
  
* * * *  
  
"Are you crazy?" Jackgrabbed her arm, jerking her back harshly to face him. "I know you're angry-I even understand why, dammit-but if you refuse to work with me, Sloane will know you've seen those files. And when that happens," he said in a softer voice, letting go and stepping back, "Your life will be worth less than nothing to him."  
  
"You don't know that," Sydney countered. "And why should you? He's done more to protect my life than you ever have."  
  
Jack recoiled as if she had slapped him. The unmasked shock in his face was enough to make Sydney momentarily sorry that she had gone so far. He lied to me, now he has to accept the consequences. The thought reinforced her wavering resolve and she straightened unconsciously, looking him coolly in the eye.  
  
He took a deep breath. "Sydney--"  
  
"I'm doing this alone." With that, she turned on her heel and left. Jack watched her go, the distant, stalwart man of a few moments ago nowhere to be seen. Long after she had disappeared from sight he stayed there, but she did not come back.  
  
* * * *  
  
Be sure to read the last story in this trilogy! Okay, now that I've finished sounding like an advertisement, I hope everyone's enjoying my fanfics. The first part of "Agraciana" should be up in a few days. :-) -Ashni 


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